Closer
by PinkCaptions
Summary: Nejiten College AU set to Chainsmokers "Closer" "She couldn't help but think that he was the prettiest person she had ever seen, yet she couldn't stop herself from running."
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, I was doing just fine before I met you_

 _I drink too much and that's an issue but I'm okay_

 _Hey, you tell your friends it was nice to meet them_

 _But I hope I never see them again_

* * *

Bottles upon bottles littered the fluorescent lit floor. Drunken boys and girls dancing- grabbing at each other desperately. He steadily reminded himself that him and his friends were bachelors and this was an important part of the "life experience" as so many had told him.

Neji couldn't help but wonder, was this the youth his coach had long babbled on about? It truly didn't seem as great or appealing as others had made it out to be.

"Oy, Neji!"

Suddenly, a boisterous blonde wrapped his arms comfortably (or uncomfortably for Neji) around the stoic boy's neck.

"There's a group of really cute girls talking to Sasuke and Kiba right now. Don't be a killjoy and mope around alone over here!"

Before Neji could respond, Naruto dragged him with full force across the room towards. Of course, Naruto being Naruto (and a drunk one at that), gave no warnings and pushed Neji full force into their friends and their company. As a rather obvious result, Neji found himself completely collapsed on top a member of said company.

"I'm so sorry."

He promptly pushed himself off of the female figure, and extended his hand to help.

"No,no! Don't worry, I'm okay!"

A sun-kissed hand struck his beautiful elegant one out of the way.

"I-I can get up on my own."

She stumbled and struggled, but managed to haphazardly lift herself off of the ground. Giggling, she grabbed his suit sleeve rather than his hand tugging it up and down, "I'm Tenten by the way. It's nice to meet you."

It was then he saw her face for the first time, bronze skin tinted red, flushed lips, and brown doe eyes stared back at him. In that moment Neji was sure of two things, one she was indeed beautiful, and two, she was also absolutely shit faced drunk.

"Neji."

He was utterly unsure of what to say to her, other than a curt sound of his name. In reality, he wanted to tell he she's had too much to drink. She was too intoxicated, he actually wanted to start with a _please, have a seat and I'll get you some water._

While the rest of his friends resumed to socializing, he found himself fixated on the girl before him, silently observing her take another swig of alcohol.

"Dude, you're like serial killer levels of staring right now."

"Yeah man, seriously not cool to stare like that."

The very people he deemed to be his friends decided to comment on his behavior. Namely, Naruto Uzumaki, loud mouth of the century. The entire party shot their eyes to him- _her_ included. This was also in the exact moment he decided to give Naruto a well deserved death glare.

Well, Fuck. Now he had to defend himself before the everyone deemed him some kind of perverted sociopath.

"No, I'm just concerned for her."

Hearing this, the corners of her mouth lifted in amusement. She batted her dark lashes and shot him a devious glance.

"About me?" She had a hint of play in her voice-a feigned disbelief, inched ever so slightly closer to him and rolled her doll head his way, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"Yes, I'm actually very concerned with-"

"How he's going to get into your pants tonight, because he clearly has a thing for you."

A statement started by him with golden intentions turned south and straight to hell by Naruto. Neji snapped his head and grabbed the blonde by the collar, about to beat him into a bloody pulp for proposing such a crude idea.

"Is that so?" He stopped short to the sound of her voice, and the rest of the statement was lost in the sound of her laughter.

In the split moment he turned to look at her, her eyes locked onto his and she gave him a wicked smirk, and by all means made the boldest statement he's ever heard.

"I'm glad the feeling is mutual then." _  
_  
God be damned. He never thought he'd see the day Naruto would do him a favor.

* * *

He had been right to worry about her state of intoxication during the club. After she had made her bold statement, she hooked herself onto his arm about to promise a series of vulgarities.

But as fate would have it,she slipped and fell to the floor once again in her inebriated state. Her knee was now scraped, and her phone lied on the dance floor in a million pieces. At this point, it was painfully clear to him that he had to get her away from the crowd.

Being the gentleman he was, of course he saw it fit that he carried the lady to his home. Of course, He would soon learn to regret this decision.

"Ne, Ne-Neji?"

"Yeah?"

Underneath the stars, and the cold air, the girl in his arm groaned.

"I don't feel so good."

"Do you want me to find-"

Fucking Christ.

That's exactly how it felt to be that close to the sound of hurling.

"-a trashcan."

She gracefully struggled free of his arms, and vice gripped the closest trash can to vomit the life out of herself. Of course, this was not before she had already spilled her insides out on herself, and our dear hero.

By the time Neji helped her up again and into his arms, she was sobbing into his shoulder. To say that Tenten was a beautiful rambling mess, would be a more than gentle way of putting it.

"Oh God, I ruined your night didn't I?"

"Not at all."

He tried to reassure her, but his answer never really seemed to make it to her. She held her head tighter against his arm and continued.

"And-and I've been such an inconvenience to you. I swear, I can normally handle my alcohol really well. I just-I-I don't know what happened"

She weld tears in her earth toned eyes, and looked at him with glittering droplets through her lashes.

"It's not your fault."

"But it totally is! I mean who vomits all over their future husband? What kind of shitty story does that make for our future kids?"

"I think that it makes for a pretty great one."

As he felt her in his arms at ease, he couldn't help but smile knowing that he was right.

* * *

Where the fuck was she?

Ino Yamanaka, captain of the Konoha cheer squad angrily furrowed her eyes at her phone. Their team was set to compete at nationals in a month's time, and their star cheerleader was still MIA from morning practice.

What could have possibly happened? It was totally unlike her to not show up to practice, and even more so to ignore Ino's phone calls, texts, pms, dms, emails, snapchats, and well you get the point.

The only time Tenten had ever missed practice was because of a 110 degree fever. Even then, Tenten still showed up, and was forcibly sent home because she was vomiting on everyone and everything.

Ugh, Ino shuddered at the memory and quickly returned her attention to her phone skimming through her other contacts. If Tenten wouldn't respond, then surely someone who knows her would.

If there was anything aside from being a kickass cheer captain she was good at, it was knowing all of Konoha. After all, Ino could practically read minds with all that she knew.

* * *

"I'm so sorry!"

She must of apologized to him for the umpth time that morning.  
Her head was bowed low, and her cheeks completely flustered. She couldn't look at him-especially not after all that happened.

"No, don't be. These things happen. I'm just glad that you aren't hurt and that you're okay."

And here they were, the dreaded morning after.

His eyes and thoughts torn, as much as he tried to comfort her, he found himself in an uncomfortable state of arousal. How do you even comfort a person, when you're trying to get them out of your peripheral vision out of courtesy?

Tenten had opted to stay in her borrowed clothes. An oversized tee-shirt, which didn't quite fully cover her bottom half. As she shamefully tried to hide her face by bending slightly over, another part of her body was in Neji's full view.

He really felt kind of awful. Here she was having a full on panic attack, and his biggest struggle was to not ogle her ass while she talked to him.

"...But about last night"

"Nothing happened. If that's what you're worried about. We made it back, and you fell asleep as soon as you showered and changed, and I slept on the couch."

She began to pace back and forth uncomfortably through his room.

"But I threw up all over you!"

"It really wasn't as terribl-"

"I get such a confidence kick out of drinking, and, and-Oh my god. Did I call you my future husband?!"

Her eyes suddenly widened in horror as she turned to face him, and she threw herself, full body into his bed- straight diving her face for the pillow. Maybe if she was lucky enough, she'd suffocate in the pillow and die before the embarrassment kills her.

Neji himself was even more unsure as to what to do at this point. Because as Tenten jumped onto his bed, he found his shirt had fatefully chosen to be riled up against her body, exposing more of her olive skin. She was crouched over in an attempt to hide her face with the pillow, but that left for an even more precarious position.

He decided to sit down cross legged next to her on the bed, but back facing her so he wouldn't have to look at her (or namely her distracting body). And with ease, he finally gave her an answer.

"I found it charming."

She cracked open an eye in disbelief, lifted her face from the pillow, and gave an incredulous stare straight onto his back.

"...You can't mean that?"

"But I do."

He turned his head back slightly and offered her a soft smile as a token of his sincerity.

"Most people aren't at ease when they first meet me, and your reactions and umm actions towards me, were refreshing."

She rolled over towards him and snaked her arms around his pillow.

"Thank the whiskey sours and moscow mules. If not for that, I would have spent the whole night staring at you, the same way you stared at my ass this morning."

"...You noticed."

"Difficult not to," She giggled into his pillow- her face snugly tucked between her arms, "I don't mind. Given the way I treated you last night, it's the least I could do to compensate."

Neji leaned in to pull the pillow away from her arms, and decided to take its place, with his face facing hers.

"If you say so."

He leaned in and cutely kissed her button nose to confirm his answer.

* * *

Their newfound intimacy was short-lived. About two minutes into their light kisses, a beautiful full figured blonde burst through the bedroom door. She forcefully grabbed Tenten by the arm, gave Neji a quick excuse us, and dragged Tenten into the hallway.

Tenten found herself cornered by Ino very much like prey, whilst Neji remained in his room (clearly uninvited to the little private meeting). Tenten winced at the sound of Ino's voice.

"Honestly Tenten. I like would expect this out of Sakura, or Karin, but you?! What the fuck?"

"Ino, it's not what you think."

"It isn't!?"

It was difficult enough trying to explain the events of last night, but with Ino's finger pointed accusingly at her, Tenten found herself at a complete loss of words. The blonde gave no notion of easing up on the accusations and continued.

"I mean, seriously! You skipped practice because you were too busy fucking the star quarterback from Hokage University!?"

"Wait? He's the quarterback from Hokage University?" Tenten raised her eyebrow in thought, no wonder he had seemed so familiar. She must have seen him on some flyers when she was at cheer practice.

"My god, you didn't even know? Ten, don't you do your research? Do you just hop on the first dick that you see?"

"Ino! No! That's not what happened. We didn't have sex-"

"What!? You spent the night and you didn't even get sex out of it? God, I don't even want to hear your excuses now. Like at least skipping practice for sex is understandable- _FROWNED UPON_ , but understandable, I mean look at him."

If there was a hell, Tenten was pretty sure she was living in it. Tenten was sure that she had actually died of embarrassment, and her body was not just a giant floating fluster fest. There was no bouncing back from this. Poor Neji, first he had to deal with her vomiting all over him, and now he has to deal with her overly caring (and straight up psychotic) friend bursting uninvited into his apartment.

She gave it one last try, "Ino, please." Please, please, please _leave_. Her internal dialogue was on a repeat wheel. She gave Ino the most desperate look she could think of.

And by some stroke of magic, it worked. Thankfully, In Ino's ice cold heart there was some compassion and human understanding. Her eyes softened, and she reached out to brush Tenten's arm in reassurance.

"Okay, fine. You can tell me later." Ino readied herself to leave, brushing the imaginary dust off of herself. "Just don't miss practice again, okay?"

"Okay. I promise."

Smoothly as Ino was about to leave, she decided she could afford to make one last smartass remark, "But, Ten?"

"Yeah?"

"Know that the only reason I'm leaving is because I want to talk to your new boytoy's cute roommate."

"...Ino leave faster."

* * *

Inside, Tenten made sure to gently close the door before bracing herself to face Neji.  
There he was in his bed, right where she last saw him. He seemed so at peace, while ten million thoughts ran through her. She timidly approached him and sat herself down cross legged across from him.

"..So umm. How much of that did you hear?"

"I can pretend I didn't hear any of it if you'd prefer."

Tenten gave one sigh, and another.

"Ino is like that. She's a bit much. But I think she means well?" Tenten paused in her statement as if questioning the sincerity of what she was saying, "I mean none of us are really sure. She's constantly nagging us about practice practice practice, and what we're doing, what we're eating, who we're dating..."

The way her voice faded out into an internal musing of mumbles and soft rambling, only made Neji all the more aware of how animated and adorable she was. Her explanations on Ino made him think about how Naruto and all of the mishaps he's caused.

"I think my blonde friend you met the other night is similar."

"Oh?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. He's a friend and teammate. He's also loud, excessive, and a total pain in the ass."

"Hummm, do you think it's a blonde thing?"

"Must be."

The corners of her mouth turned up and her eyes softened. She snuggled up towards him and found herself craving his intimacy. It wasn't necessarily one of desire, but rather one of comfort and warmth. There seemed to be something about him that kept her mind at ease. It made her foolishly happy. She let herself lay against him and enjoy the silence that was lost from Ino's appearance.

Neji began to speak but quietly, not in any means that would disrupt their comfort. "In a way, I appreciate friends like Ino and Naruto. They always manage to push people into situations, good or bad."

Tenten stirred- nodding her head against his chest, and added, "As in, it's always nice to meet them, but you hope you never see them again?"

"Exactly."

* * *

They had been dating for 6 months now, from the end of the last school year to the midpoint of the current one. Long gone were the summer days they would spend outside exploring the city. The weather was brisk. It was perfect for being indoors, making hot chocolate, and staying cozy in bed.

In this time, Neji and Tenten had grown much more acquainted with each other. He discovered that she was on scholarship attending Konoha University, and came from a humble family. Her weekends were kept busy through waitressing at a local college town cafe. Of course, she was also a star cheerleader responsible for the most magnificent flips and victories. Neji on the other hand, was recruited into Hokage University's football team well before graduation. All his life, he was always top of his year in academics; he even graduated as valedictorian. His family was prestigious in name (in fact, they owned a pretty good portion of the city's infrastructure), and thus provided for him in any way they saw fit. Despite all of their differences, they found each other madly in love.

It was the end of Tenten's evening shift. Everyday, without fail Neji would meet her outside of the cafe as the winter sun set. Neji draped his scarf over Tenten, and adjusted it to fit snugly over her neck.

"You don't always have to walk me home from work, Neji."

"I want to."

She huffed her cheeks and blew a piece of fly away hair out from over her eyes.

"Are you sure there isn't another reason?"

"No."

Neji may be able to pass on the nonchalant facade in front of others, but she caught the slight furrow in his brow. That was all the confirmation that she needed.

"So there is another reason."

He gave her no response and only quickened his pace.

She smiled through the snugness of his scarf and tackled her arms around his.

"It wouldn't be because of my favourite customer would it?" There was the same mischievous glimmer in her eyes from the night he had met her.

"Don't call him that." Neji personally felt it was distasteful and disgusting to describe _him_ of all people as her favourite (after all, wasn't he her favorite? Isn't that what dating signified?).

"It is what it is. He's the only one who will for sure without fail be there to greet me every morning at seven."

"He's a brat."

"No, he's a sweetheart who always tips extra," She defended her favourite customer without skipping a beat, "And unlike you mister, I actually need the cash." Her jabbed his rib cage through his winter coat most accusingly.

"I know," He learned very early on in the relationship how hard Tenten worked to sustain herself. It was something he deeply admired about her. She worked nonstop to make sure she could be financially independent of her parents. In everything Tenten did, there was such a freedom in her actions (always doing whatever she saw fit). He would never admit it, but that alone made him jealous of her. Although he knew she wouldn't be swayed by his words, he would still try to assure her that he had reason to worry.

"He's asked you out more than once."

"All in good fun. He's only in high school."

She paid her dearest boyfriend no mind, and triwled on ahead of him. In her true nature, she waved off his comment easily and quickly. Spotting a bench-the perfect distance away, she was far more excited by the opportunity to try a new cheer move. She gave a short sprint, jumped, and landed perfectly on her feet.

"If it makes you feel better," She locked eyes with him to emphasize her point, "I think he has a crush on your younger cousin Hanabi."

Neji frowned (yes, it made things _very slightly_ better), "Must he go after all the women in my life?"

"Well, I can't help it if he has good taste." She made her way towards the end of the bench and held out her arm for him. He grabbed a hold of her petite waist, and lifted her off instead.

"I promise I won't leave you for him."

Neji scoffed at the idea, almost dropping her in the process, "We both know you'd never leave me. _Especially not for him_."

"No promises then."

He couldn't help but stare at the street light illuminating her, and notice how blissfully happy she was with herself. She reached her hand up to his cheeks, tip toed herself onto his lips before he had the chance to think of anything else.

Today, he wakes up and checks his phone once more for the messages that he knows are not there. He looks back in time and wonders if this should have been the first clue that he should have held onto her tightly and never let her go.

* * *

A/N: That ended up waaaayyyyyyyy longer than I expected. I've been super super obessessed with this song all summer, and I kept getting Nejiten ideas while listening to it. #trashtasteinmusic  
Originally meant to be a oneshot, but it got a bit out of hand. Expect the story to be about three or four parts, the story should should wrap up in the next week or so. : )

Thank you for reading! Reviews are always welcome


	2. Chapter 2

_I know it breaks your heart_

 _Moved to the city in a broke down car and_

 _Four years, no calls_

 _Now you're looking pretty in a hotel bar and_

 _I can't stop_

* * *

Neji parked his barolo black range rover in the parking lot of a second hand car dealership. It was odd for him to feel out of place. His car suddenly seemed too new and too sleek.

With a faint click, the passenger seat belt came undone. Tenten smoothly slid off of the leather seat, and excitedly rushed Neji out with her.

"I don't mind driving you around, you know." He knew that she had been working hard the past few months-saving up to buy her own car so she could stop burdening him, but he felt he had to let her know one last time. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded driving her around for the rest of his life. He disliked having music on in the car, and driving to the sound of her next to him (sleeping, chatting, rambling) turned driving into one of his favorite things.

"I know," She told him, "and thank you for the ride to getting my own ride. Thank you for all of the rides since I've met you."

She giggled having caught the context of her statement, and gave him a wink, "Whoops, the double entendre wasn't intended, but it works out."

"Only you would, Tenten."

"You would too, just in private," Her playful tongue darted out of her mouth.

He pushed away her sexual comment (saved it in the back of his mind for later), and earnestly spoke, "Either way Tenten, you could save the money for something else, and just use my car in the meantime. I'm not sure how long a second hand car will last you anyway."

"I know but it's about time that I get a car," She thought about all of the times he's had to drive across town to pick her up from cheer practice, from school, and from home. Surely, she wasn't that much of a needy girlfriend to keep up such behavior, "Besides, I don't think my family will help shell out the money to buy me a luxury car anytime soon-so I'll make due with what I can."

Neji grimaced at the latter of her comment. His uncle had given him a Range Rover as a gift at the start of college. It wasn't his personal choice. As in all matters in his family, he rarely got a say in things, and was often only informed of decisions afterwards. The woes of being from a strict family (or in the words of Tenten- obsessive compulsive personality disorder family).

"Oh, I don't mean it as a bad thing, Neji. I know that you could never afford that Rover on your own, and it's nice of your family to buy it for you. I'm jealous." Tenten reassured him, but not before muttering to herself under her breath inaudibly, "even though they're completely psycho and have a total disregard for your feelings and goals in life."

"Are you complaining about my family to yourself again?"

"...No."

* * *

He must have gone down a thousand aisles of cars. Tenten was still full of energy. Each time they found a car that he thought was decent, Tenten would tell him that in her gut she knew this wasn't the one and march on. He had been trying to do a cross-analysis in his head of which cars would be in the best value, or the best condition. There were so many options, yet more than half them were shit.

Neji looked around him. Cars in every shape, size, and color surrounded him. It was exhausting to think about. What model? What year? What was the milage?

Wait.

Wait a minute.

He darted his eyes around quickly.

Where on earth was Tenten?

He groaned. He must have physically lost her while he was mentally lost in thought. Tenten had a habit of wandering off in new places. It made it difficult to go with her to concerts, malls, museums, or anywhere outside really. More than once, He's considered sewing a "if found please return to Neji Hyuuga" sign onto her back. The explorer in her would never have quite enough. He reached for his phone about to text her-when he heard an audible sigh.

It was no ordinary sigh. It was one of amazement and wonder. The sound that one makes when they meet their one true love. He concluded it must have been Tenten-who surely had just found her car match made in heaven.

In a rush, he headed towards the direction he thought he had heard her voice in.

Low and behold, there was she was. Her eyes were gleaming, arms tightly wound around the hood of the car in a hug, and a content smile across her face.

"Neji! Look, I found her."

"Her?"

"My ideal car! Isn't she perfect?"

Neji took a closer look. The car was a large green family van. The left blinker was visibly missing, and the car door looked mangled-as if it had been through some accident, "I don't know if this is the best choice. The car doesn't seem like it'll last very long or that it's worth your money. I saw a car earlier, two aisles over-"

"Shhh! Don't let Maru hear you say that."

"...Maru?" Neji's eyebrow twitched, "Tenten, don't name the car."

"I'll do whatever I damn please."

* * *

"If you had listened to me in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Pushing her car together through the snow, Neji reminded her of the faults of Maru. It felt like her car must broke down for the tenth time that year, but it didn't matter to Tenten. Maru was her baby, and regardless of all the bumps in the road, she refused to let go.  
They had just left the theater after watching a blockbuster. Tenten had insisted that they take her car (Maru) instead, wanting to prove to Neji that her car wasn't as worthless as he thought. Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well.

"If it didn't snow, Maru would be fine." She was stubborn as always (one of her best and worst traits in Neji's opinion), "Neji, keep pushing! We're almost there!"

Lucky for Tenten, her boyfriend was an athlete, and capable of pushing stone cold steel for over half a mile home. Sure, she helped as well-but mainly as moral support. She even came up with her own personal cheer routine for him.

Slowly they tread in the icy weather, and when they were less than a block away from their goal, Tenten ad-libbed him a question, "Do you ever think that there's more to life outside of Konoha?"

"Perhaps." With each push forward, he noticed that Tenten seemed increasingly lost in thought. He was sure that time was moving a tad slowly, just enough to capture the light glimmers of snow around her. Her eyes glazed with wonder.

"Why do you ask?"

"What?" It was as if his voice had broken her from a trance. She turned her head quickly to look at him questioningly.

"Why are you asking about life outside of Konoha?"

"...Well I just think that…" Her voice faded before it picked up again, "don't you think that, it would be nice to go somewhere where it never snows?"

A quick turn of the heel response. Whatever she had wanted to say, he knew that she had swallowed.

"We live in the official Land of Fire, Ten. It barely snows as is." It was true, Konoha was famous for its warm weather,and it's short winters. It only snowed once or twice a year (if that). With a final push, he made it onto her driveway, and held himself against the car door in exhaustion.

"Yes, but-" She cut her own voice off short as he exhaled and inhaled heavily, "Nevermind. Let's go inside. I'll fix us some hot chocolate."

He asked no more questions and followed.

* * *

"Let's run away together."

She told him one night clasping his hand tightly; he knew that she had been serious, but he also knew that was impossible for him. It hadn't been surprising to him that she had asked. The past few months she had been hinting towards the topic. He noticed how fidgety she would get about the topic of graduation. She was visibly uneasy over finding a place in society for herself.

"We can't do that."

"Why not? Let's leave and restart our lives somewhere else."

"We already have lives here. Our friends, our family. We'll be graduating in just a few short months," He tried to be reasonable and logical, "and then I'll have to work at my uncle's company. I can't leave."

He felt her slip out from underneath him, and walked towards the window of her bedroom.

"But is that what you want to do?"

"My family is important to me, Tenten. You know that."

"Yes, but…" She still couldn't bring herself to say it. But don't you think that there's more to life than your family? Is what Tenten really had wanted to ask him that night. Sometimes, she felt like she was so alone in her thoughts (even with Neji). Two years into dating, and he still had not been able to tell his family about their relationship. For shame of being with her, or for shame that his family may try to break them up- she did not know.

"But what?" Neji saw her hesitate.

"...But you have to think of doing what makes you happy sometimes."

"I am happy." He affirmed, "Being with you is the happiest I've been in a long time."

"Then why haven't you told them about us?" It was difficult to conceal the hurt in her voice, but she tried her best, "And what about football? Are you just going to give that up? You're amazing, Neji. So many teams want you."

Truthfully, his family had never supported his passion for sports. They only reason they had been okay with him playing college football in the first place, was because of the money and college opportunities that came with it.

"It's not that simple." With his fingers taught in his hair, he also tried his best to explain, "I know that my family isn't the most understanding, but they mean well. I'm sorry for hiding our relationship; I just did what I thought was best-but it's clearly hurt you."

"No. It's okay-I-I don't know,"her voice was now more hesitant than ever,"What if we're holding ourselves back? I've always wanted to be a dancer- a real dancer. Cheerleading is great and fun, but this isn't where I want to be in ten years. And you, you've always been so passionate about your sport. Are we going to graduate and live unfulfilling lives forever?"

"That's reality, Tenten." He told her in a short abrupt classic Hyuuga fashion.

"Well, I don't want it to be ours!"

"Life isn't about what we want. It's about how we deal with what we're given. I was born into this family, Tenten. Good or bad, I've learned to live with it. Not everyone has the luxury of getting to do what they want in life. You cannot go through life so idealistic."

She was silent for a long while. From the moonlight he could see her face, the way her cheeks were wet, and her doe eyes quivering.

"Tenten, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"It's okay," She wiped her tears away with her bare arm, and with that offered him a half hearted smile, "But you promise that you're perfectly happy here?"

"I promise."

He gathered his things one by one scattered across her wood floor. Finally, he made his way to the door, "I'll give you some time alone."

"I love you" She told him.

"I love you, too." He replied, "And no matter what happens, we'll always have each other. Isn't that enough?"

Her silence should have alarmed him. Even with all of the full marks on his exams, he still wasn't smart enough to understand that he should have stayed.

* * *

The next morning Neji woke, dressed himself, and went through his usual morning routine. Readying himself for his next class, he skimmed through his notes with a cup of coffee. He found himself checking his phone periodically, hoping Tenten would call or text. Each time, there was nothing, but perhaps she just needed more time. He was sure she would come around soon-there was nothing to worry about.

Shuffling his notes into his backpack, a sudden frantic knocking shook his front door.

"Hyuuga!" The doorknob began to jiggle, whoever was on the other end seemed unhinged, "Neji! Neji Hyuuga! Open this goddamn door or help you god when I tear it down!"

"Ino?" Recognizing her voice, he quickly grabbed the doorknob and turned it clockwise. She quickly fell through from the other side. "What happe-" _  
_

 _Bam._

She hit him square in the jaw, angry and livid.

"Ino! What the hell is going on?!" He held his jaw in one hand and held up the other in self defense. She came in for another hit, and he blocked it-twisting her arm backwards away from him.

"What the fuck did you do?!" His response only seemed to make her angrier, she scowled at him.

"Pardon?"

"She's gone!"

Gravity seemed to pull on him tighter. There was a brief disbelief, followed promptly by sure panic. He ran out of his apartment. He ran past the streets they used to stroll along. He ran past her workplace, past her hallway, and through her apartment door.

She was gone.

Her dwelling was clean for the first time, but it was more than just clean- it was sterile. All of her belongings were nowhere to be found. Her brightly colored colored posters that had dawned the walls were gone. The sheets on her mattress stripped away. Distraught, he looked out her window and saw that Maru was gone as well.

It was as if she had been nothing but a ghost who had come into his life. Nothing more than a girl, who had taken him on the liveliest adventure, and then disappeared. But in leaving him, she had taken the best parts of him as well. It was as if she was an unattainable dream. He fell to the floor alone; he was without her for the first time in her apartment.

* * *

Neji reminisced how that was four years ago. Four years ago she had left him, he had moved on (he had too). Ino never blamed him for it. They never spoke of it again. After graduation, he spent his time building the Hyuuga company. Now his time was split between traveling, and business meetings.

Sitting at the bar of his hotel, he looked at this phone again-checking for the messages from her he knew would not exist.

* * *

She meant to tell him, but after all that was said she couldn't find the right words.

She would have left with or without him. Pulling her sun visor down, she stepped on the pedal of her faithfully broken down car.

There comes a point in every relationship when you must evaluate if you're holding each other back. What Neji had wanted was in Konoha, and that simply wasn't where she saw herself for the rest of her life. She pulled her shades over her eyes and drove straight into the hot Suna sun.

It was four years ago, when she chose to leave her life in Konoha behind (him behind). She pulled her car into the driveway of a posh hotel. She found work in Suna doing odd jobs at first, but eventually after auditioning one after another she was accepted into a prestigious dance troupe. They often traveled to put on shows, and this time it was no different.

She had finally made it as a dancer. She had her own solo number, and was earning her own living. Yet some part of her was still nostalgic, she pushed those thoughts aside.

Exhaustion from a long night of dancing and over thinking, was nothing a trip to the hotel bar couldn't fix.

* * *

Familiar faces were always haunting, the dim bar light seemed to compliment his pale skin so well. He held his whiskey cup to his lips. His features had only grown more beautiful. His hair darker and longer. His jawline was defined but still soft.

She was always jealous of his feminine looks. It made him the perfect heartthrob in many ways.

As they locked eyes four fateful years later, she couldn't help but think that he was the prettiest person she had ever seen. It must have been spark she felt-with it there was fear, hesitation, and uncertainty (but what of love? She couldn't deny it was there as well). Regretfully, she turned her back to him.

She couldn't stop herself from running.

* * *

A/N: BLEHHH, I hope that wasn't too teenage cliche for all of you, or too bland to get through. I've been watching too many Woody Allen movies (his stories about one that got away are the best ones). Hope that you all enjoyed reading parts 1 & 2, typed both on a whim, but I do plan on finishing this fic! Please keep reading. : )

I actually find that structuring a story around a song is much easier of a plot device (each verse is its own chapter in itself) & maybe i'll do more of these. Let me know your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

_You, look as the good as the day as I met you_

 _I forget just why I left you, I was insane_

 _Stay, and play that Blink-182 song_

 _That we beat to death in Tuscon, okay_

* * *

They had locked eyes for less than a split second, but it was enough for him to recognize her doe eyes. Those were the same eyes he saw the night he met her. The night she was intoxicated beyond belief. The night she had vomited all over him, but that was the night he didn't care, because he was too busy staring into those eyes. Those eyes would become the eyes he falls in love with -kind, warm, and familiar.

It was her. How haunted was he by her memory for past four years? He'd stay awake at night longing for her touch, wondering where she'd been, who she was with, and if he still mattered to her.

But here she was, right before him. It was proof that four years ago she hadn't been all a dream. A perfect figment of his imagination to conjure up the ideal woman for him.

She didn't stay long enough to hear him call her name, nor did she see the way he reached out to her. His drink spilling out of its container, as desperate and frantic as he, himself.

She was too quick.

She'd move two steps forward, and he'd move one step back.

A click of her heel against the floor, and she was gone.

Knocking past hotel guests (without stopping for any apologies), she made it to the corridor of the hotel. Hastily, she reached for her keys in her pocket. Flinging her car door open, she forced her keys in rapidly, jump starting her engine.

But Maru gave her a simple, "Brrrrrrrrrr…" and would not budge.

"Dammit, Maru!" How dare her own kin betray her in a time like this, "After all that we've been through, don't fail me now!"

Maru had a mind of her own, her engine only growled louder with each huff, and Tenten recognized defeat. With her keys still lodged in the engine, her car lights still on, she jumped out of the vehicle.

On her own two feet, she ran.

She ran as far and as fast as she possibly could away from it all. This was the second time she's had to in her life, and with each breath she heaved, she hoped that it would be the last.

* * *

If she had hoped for an easy getaway, her prayers were left completely unanswered. The only person more desperate than herself was Neji.

He slammed his drink down on the counter, yelled at the bartender to put it on his tap, and followed her in suit.

He couldn't let her get away-not this time.

He found his first clue in the parking lot, there was old faithful Maru, her side door open and slanted. It was odd to Neji how similar it was to a greeting from an old friend. If Neji didn't know better, he'd say the way Maru's lights malfunctioned and flickered were like an old wise wife, telling him to go after the girl.

Heading to his rover, he revved his car up and drove well past the speed limit.

* * *

Fuck.

She didn't really think this through. I mean, she didn't really ever think anything through-but this time in particular. Was she just going to run forever and leave Maru behind? How could she be so cruel? It would be like a leaving a friend to die. Besides the moral implications of the situation, all of her valuables were on her car (id, wallet, travel documents).

What was she to do now?

Shit.

Was that a car coming towards her? If she was lucky it'd run her over. Then she'd be able to go to the big man upstairs and personally deal with this mess of a life. Wincing, she looked at the figure through the drivers window.

The notion itself was was a test of luck, and she had just failed.

In a last ditch effort, she turned and sprint forward with all the strength that remained.

* * *

"You're not going to outrun a car, Tenten."

With a wrinkled brow of annoyance and amusement, he rolled down his window and stated the matter factually to her.

Of course, he asked himself, when did Tenten ever listen to reason and thought?

Christ, she was serious wasn't she? Although it was true to her character, he couldn't believe that she was still trying to get away.

At this point, he had slowed down his car to zero, and was shamelessly watching (and enjoying to a certain degree) her struggle to get away.

"Well, you don't know that until you let me try!" She grit her teeth and kept her legs moving forward.

Sighing, he sped up his car by simply tapping his foot on the gas, and caught up to her, "Tenten! When will you finally be done with running away from me!?"

Those words struck her like lightening, and for a second she stood still. But of course, she would not stop. With her head cast down she continued to run.

"Tenten! Stop!" He called out to her.

"I can't." Her voice quivered with the same uncertainty the night she left.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Her voice seemed lost and quiet, no more than a whisper, "Because I know I broke your heart."

The clarity that comes with truth is often hard to process.

The night fell interrupted by those words. Softly, with every breath that he drew the cool air became heavier. In finding clarity, it was no longer just them who were quiet. It was as if time itself had stopped for them. Heart beating in his throat, he let himself succumb to her silence.

"How could you forgive me? After I left you...and I never gave you an-"

"Why did you leave?"

He cut her off short. He needed an answer. For four years he had to live without one, "Why did you leave me? Why didn't you tell me? What did I do wrong?"

Each word he felt his anger rising. He couldn't help himself anymore. He pulled back his hair into a low ponytail with his fingers.

"Neji, I-"

"Do you know how long I spent looking for you?" Frustrated he gripped the steering wheel harder. He was grappling onto anything-anything he could do to contain his emotions. "And now you won't even turn to face me?"

She was guilty. It was not that she did not want to face him, but that she couldn't for shame. Reluctantly, she gave in to his request, and turned towards him.

"I couldn't tell you." Biting her lower lip, she shook her head regretfully at the ground and repeated herself, "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. I couldn't find the right words or the right way."

"Then why?" He stepped out of his rover, and walked towards her, each step strengthening his resolve.

She gave no response,instead turned away from him once more.

"Why!" Louder, he asked again.

"Because you were my only reason to stay."

He ceased movement. As he let her words lull over him, he could do nothing but let clarity take him. His hands dropped down to his sides, and his shoulders slouched, but his head still held high over hers.

"Neji...I-" Her thoughts began and ended again and again. Insecurities grew inside of her mind, making her feel timid in a way like never before. Nervously, she continued, "Don't just stare at me! What are you thinking? Go ahead, and tell me that I'm selfish and wrong and-"

"I know that I have every reason to be angry with you, Tenten. I don't need you to tell me how to feel." Hearing this, she winced, but he continued.

"And yet…," He paused to make certainty of his words, "...All I can think about when I look at you is that you look as beautiful as the day I met you."

She finally found herself giving in earnestly and honestly. She was staring back straight into his eyes. Those were the eyes of passion and need. They were as intimidating as she had thought, but even more so. It was a confirmation that he as desperate for her as she was for him.

She laughed in disbelief. How perfect of a relationship she had. Small droplets weld at the corner of her eyes as she exhaled each breath of mirth, "I'm insane aren't I?"

"In many ways," He held his hand out to her cheeks and circled his thumb beneath her eye, wiping her tears away.

"I was absolutely insane to leave you."

"And I was absolutely insane to let you leave."

There was nothing more left to be said. As her lips grew upward into a light smile, he found himself mirroring her actions and he led the way back to his rover. Comfortably, he draped his suit coat over her shoulders and let his heart follow.

* * *

She sat down in the passenger seat of his car, relishing the nostalgia of the moment. The scent of leather in her nose, the smoothness of it against her bare skin, it was as if nothing had changed. Him, focused as always on the road before him, and her next to him faithfully.

But unlike old times, she found herself fiddling with her hands and jittery from all of the emotions that ran through the night. She always had trouble sitting still when nervous. Eventually, she found herself playing with the various buttons and compartments of the vehicle. With a slight of hand, she opened the glove compartment and was surprised by what she had found.

"Since when do you listen to music?"

"Ever since you left. I had to find something to listen to when I drive."

Amused she began to peruse the careful collection of discs,"I honestly never thought you of all people would pick up my old CD collecting habit. Don't most people use streaming now?"

He froze in thought. Wait a minute, crap, are CDs not cool anymore? It _has been_ 4 years. Does she think he's a grandpa stuck with 90's technology now? Neji's internal dialogue was going mad.

"Yes, I know CDs might be outdated by today's standards, but I think it's nice to own a physical album." He made a mental note whilst beating himself up. Way to try to woo a girl back into your life with outdated tech, Neji.

"Yes! That's exactly how I feel. Neji, you wouldn't believe how many people shit on me for buying CDs nowadays! When it's truly an artform!" Thankfully, Tenten was just as stuck in old technology, and is one of the few who would deem him cool for such a social tragedy.

She darted her eyes around his car and was impressed at the neatness of it. Well, he was _always_ neat. It was only when she was in his car that you'd find a half drank coffee, or a hair tie, or basically anything that showed an actual sign of human life. She personally couldn't keep her car half as clean. God forbid, if she was ever pulled over, she'd just have the officer handcuff her and send her to jail. Even then, it would be faster than her successfully finding all of her car's information. Sighing at the thought, she continued flipping through the records when she came across a few familiar titles.

"My god, to think this was the only album you ever had listened to in this car while we were dating."

Tenten picked up a cd album, on it was a woman dressed as a nurse with her bosom out pulling a glove over her hand, "Do you remember how you got this?"

"Tenten, I couldn't forget even if I wanted to."

She smiled and suppressed a laugh, continued browsing, until she saw a very special CD title and frowned.

"Neji, Is this my signed Sand Siblings album!?"

"...It might be…"

"I thought that Hanabi stole it and sold it to some superfan."

" ...I may have possibly been the superfan."

"Hyuuga, how could you?"

"You left me for four years."

"I'd call us even."

"Deal."

* * *

It would be their two year anniversary tomorrow. The two of them had planned on doing something special and decided on a quick getaway to a nearby city.

Tenten's definition of packing her suitcase meant haphazardly throwing items into it and then slamming her entire upper body onto it to close it shut. Neji would then promptly proceed to clean the hurricane she left behind, but she paid him no mind as she began rummaging through the various brochures and travel guides. Fired up, she flipped through each one like a machine- circling events with a red pen. From what Neji could tell, it looked like she had highlighted the entire damn book, but he'd leave her be.

"Oh, I can't wait, Neji. What should we do first? Oh, maybe we should catch a concert. Or see a show. And! And! The beaches!" She was absolutely gleaming from ear to ear.

"Let's start simple. We'll get to everything." He reassured her. He came up to her behind and shut their joint suitcase, linking her arms with his in a tight lock, "But that's enough planning for now, okay?"

"Nejjjii! No, I haven't even gotten to reading local reviews yet!" Pushing her head into the crane of his neck she tried to resist his grip and how his chest enveloped her. He only nestled her into his body further, narrowing her eyes, she accused him of foul play, "Don't try to distract me with your hot bod, Hyuuga! I have to focus!"

"But it's okay when you do it?"

"I never do it to you when it's something important!"

He let out an audible scoff.

"My midterm paper grade last semester would beg to differ." He recalled how she had come over to "help," but had shown up in a skirt a tad too short, then proceeded to insist on giving him a massage. Soon after, studying became a thing of shroud and wonder, a far cry from reality.

"But, I didn't mean to." Flustered, she attempted to push him away, only to be further trapped by his arms.

"Let me." He whispered his words into the soft curve of her ear. She blushed, but let him run his hands over her shoulders, down her arms, and her stomach. Toying with the hem of her blouse, he lifted it upwards and brushed his thumb in circles over her skin.

When he gave her neck a soft kiss, and heard her whimper, he pulled their bodies to the floor.

* * *

"Neji! Wake up! We're going to be late!"

Contrary to the popular belief, more often than not Tenten would be Neji's personal alarm clock. As organized and rigid as he was, He had to credit Tenten for managing to drag him out of bed every morning. Granted, her alone was enough for him to wake up, but the extra shove never hurt.

Feeling no remorse, he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back on the bed with him, "Five more minutes."

"We'll be late." She pouted at him.

"It's only seven."

"But I've been up since six! Neji, I already held back on waking you for an entire hour, do you know how difficult that is for me?"

"Yes." But I'm sleeping five more minutes with or without your approval, is what he told himself mentally.

Comfortably, he closed his eyes and drifted into a haze-

 _"Knock. Knock. Knock."_

He cracked one eye open annoyed, Tenten gave him a similar look of confusion.

"...Who could that be at this hour?"

"No one important. Probably some door to door salesman. I've seen them bothering the other neighbors lately." He responded, and returned his attention to his faithful pillow, until once more the the knocking returned. Angry, he shot up about to tell whoever it was on the other side of the door to kindly fuck off, when Tenten grasped his chest and pushed him back on the bed.

"No, no, I'll go answer." Tenten gave him a look of disapproval, before the corners of her mouth flipped up into a tease, "You'll scare the poor fellow, you stay put and catch up on your beauty sleep."

Cracking open the door, Tenten began her rehearsed monologue, "Hi, thank you for your time, but we're not interesting buying any- Naruto?!" To her surprise, she found her boyfriends self proclaimed best friend hanging off of the door frame.

"Ten! What's up? Where's Nej' at?" With a snap of his fingers, he slid himself right past the door, and invited himself comfortably into the apartment.

"Umm, He's still sleeping, but-"

"I'm awake now. " Neji rose from his chamber with a vicious glare on his face, "Naruto, I don't have time for this. What are you even doing here?"

"Okay, so, funny story! Sasuke sucks. Turns out his girlfriend is visiting from out of town, and he decided to kick me out. So last night I went to my Uncle Jiraiya's place-"

"Get to the point."

"Right, right, but I figured- man, I haven't seen my best friend in ages! I wonder what he's up to, I should really catch up with him. Annnddd, now here I am."

"Naruto, now's not a good time." Gesturing to his suitcases and Tenten, "We're going to Kuni."

"What? No way! I've always wanted to go to Kuni! Are we leaving now?"

"Naruto, you're not invited." Neji told him with a stern "fuck off" tone.

Unfazed, Naruto waltzed past the living room furniture and placed his arms around the suitcases- hoisting one in each arm, "Ha! Nice joke, almost got me there for a sec. Whose car are we taking? Yours or Mine? Or are we taking Maru?"

"Naruto, I'm not jo-"

"We're taking Neji's car!" Tenten yelled out the answer cutting Neji short. Running up to Naruto to help with the luggage, she made sure to whisper into Neji's ear, slightly leaning against his shoulders, "Let him come, what's the worst that can happen? It could be fun."

"I can think of many terrible outcomes."

Sending a blissful Naruto on his way to the car, Tenten closed the apartment door behind her, and hook her arms around Neji's neck, "We'll make it work Mr. Grumpy Pants, okay?"

Although she was the one asking him a question, he noticed the underlying threat in her statement (we'll make it work or else). Oddly enough, he found it arousing. Nuzzling his neck softly she made her way to his lips. She placed a quick tug and a bite his lip, before giving him a kiss, "So can he please come?"

Managing to choke out an "okay", before completely ravishing himself with her, he stopped short in between her kisses, "For the record, I count this as you using your hot bod against me."

* * *

"Ten, I'm telling you as someone who has watched alllll of travel shows, we need to go to the beach first!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! They have this special Nami no Kuni ice cream, it's supposed to be out of this world!"

"Oh! I can't wait! I'm so glad you're with us, Naruto."

Neji rubbed his temples from the driver's seat. Maybe letting Naruto come was a mistake on his part. Damn him for being swindled by Tenten's charms.

He gave the rear view mirror a disgruntled look only to see Naruto and Tenten excitedly passing each other books and guides. It was his anniversary with Tenten, so why was he suddenly the one 3rd wheeling?

Taking notice of his absent opinions, Tenten swiftly rocked herself forward towards his driver's seat,"Neji, You've been awfully quiet. What do you think? Is there anything you want to do?"

"I've heard good things about the local band that plays on Kuni's famous water boat-"

"Tenten! Check it out! I've made the perfect route so we can hit up all the key sights in on go!" And before his statement could make any impact, his was interrupted with the infamously self-named "best plan for the ultimate anniversary trip via Naruto Uzumaki".

"Ah, okay. Let me take a look." Apologetically, Tenten etched her way back into her seat while mouthing Neji a quick "sorry".

Although she was unconvinced of her boyfriend's emotions, she left the subject unsettled and spent the rest of the drive conversing with Naruto.

* * *

Neji had hoped on spending more alone time with Tenten once they arrived in Kuni,but his hopes were dutifully crushed. As soon as they arrived, Naruto guided their party from a boardwalk ice cream shop, to a sweets shops, to a barcade. There would be " _no shortage of fun"_ as the idiot had put it. The worst part was that Tenten seemed to genuinely enjoy all of these travesties.

He trailed behind the two of them as they led him to a sort of night time carnival. Ignoring the neon signs, cheap foods, and glitz, he watched bitterly as Tenten giggled at Naruto's jokes.

As much as he hated to admit, Tenten and Naruto were well matched as friends. While he found Naruto's exuberate, self-proclaiming, self-inviting attitude unpleasant to say the least, Tenten never seemed to mind.

Coming to a stop, Tenten took his hand and pointed towards a flashing structure, "Ne, Neji. Let's go on the ferris wheel together."

"Why don't you go with Naruto instead."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Eyeing him warily, she let go of his hand, and turned toward their guest sweetly, "Can you excuse us for a hot second, Naruto?"

She didn't wait for a response, nor for an approval. Steadfast she tightly gripped his shirt by the collar-taking him to a far off corner,"What the hell has gotten into you? Can you stop being an ass and just tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Well, then don't act like a sourpuss the entire night! It's our anniversary for pete's sake."

"Our anniversary? It certainly is, but that's taken a backseat ever since Naruto tagged along."

"You can't be serious? I thought we talked about this."

"That's the problem, Tenten."Shoving his hands into his pockets, he traced his feet along the tiled brick floor, "You always do what you want. You and Naruto, anyway. I wanted this trip to be about us."

"It is about us! We can afford to share the experience with someone can't we?' Exasperated, she threw her hands in the air, "Much less your best friend of all people," She replied.

"He's not my best friend, he's someone who latched himself onto me when we were thirteen and wouldn't let go- regardless of all of the hints I gave him. I don't understand how you can stand him."

"He hasn't seen you for the past few months. Hell, I've barely seen you these last couple of weeks," She stepped towards him, jabbed her foot in front of a tile directly in his way- forcing him to take a step backwards, "He misses you. We all miss you."

"We?"

"Naruto, Me, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba," She listed off names promptly, "Your friends, teammates, coach-I heard you didn't even go to practice last week."

"I've been busy."

"We've noticed." She answered back bitterly.

"My Uncle wanted me to sit in with him on his meetings with investors. It's a good learning tool. I've been helping him manage some dealings as well." He defended himself, "It takes time to do these things."

"I know, but you can't just let your family control your life."

"We can't all live without a plan, and Hiashi is helping me make one,"He made his way around her and embraced her from her back, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend time with all of you. Especially you, but I'm trying."

Reaching up, she clasped her fingers around his, and angled her mouth against his ear whispering nothing more than question, "Can you prove it to me by making out with me on the ferris wheel?"

"I could," He whispered back.

"And can Naruto come and film it?"

"Ten-"

"Kidding."

* * *

A vexed Tenten quickly turned her head side to side, scanning the area for their missing blonde companion. Clam, cool, collected, and knowing her boyfriend trailed behind her with his hands in his pockets silently smirking. He couldn't help it, maybe most people would feel some sort of shame after being ushered off of a ferris ride for being "inappropriate" (well, excuse them for proving romance wasn't dead), but the Hyuuga felt a smidge of pride. Tenten on the other was a flustering mess and couldn't believe they had been "caught". So much so, that her shirt was still very much haphazardly buttoned, and hair still lopsided. Anyone who looked at her could plainly guess what activities she had just participated in, and he unabashedly took some pride in the fact.

"I can't believe we lost Naruto at the carnival!"

"What's not to believe? We were preoccupied and gone for a good hour." Reminding her of their recent behavior, He couldn't stop himself from shooting her a devilish smirk as he made the latter of his statement. It was said so matter a factly that any sane woman wouldn't be able to catch his slight change of voice, but Tenten had enough experience to know he was being an open tease.

"I-I, God! S-stop that!" She began to stutter as his expression deepened. Her cheeks grew red, and her eyes darted away from his, understanding the underlying meaning in his gaze, "W-we have to find him. He'll never make it back to the hotel on his own."

"He's an adult, Tenten. He'll figure something out." Neji easily reasoned before turning the conversation, "Besides, I never took you for the type to get so flustered, weren't you the one that suggested we go on the ferris wheel in the first place?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, wanting to hear her admit their sins, teasing her further, "Perhaps, I was wrong, it seemed like you enjoyed your time up there against the window. It was," He paused taking a deep breathe, arrogantly grinning at her, "Absolutely breathtaking of a view, wasn't it?"

"Fine, Hyuuga!" Hands in her hair, she yelled hastily in hopes of ending her misery, "It's my fault we got caught, I should have listened to you instead of yanking your pants down to your ankles, and I'm sorry we traumatized a family of five behind us, because-how was I supposed to know there were kids watching!?"After admitting so, she narrowed her eyes accusingly at him with the sentiment _will you stop?_

He nodded amusingly. Neji found her flustered rage amusing to say the least. To him, she seemed reluctantly displeased. She was completely unwilling to admit her wrongs, but still completely aware of how her faults were perceived. He smiled, grabbed the bottom placket of her shirt, and neatly buttoned up the shirt for her, "It wasn't all your fault," He then proceeded to fix her collar, straightening and smoothing out the white cotton, "I think those kids ought to thank us for the life lesson."

"Or maybe they'll sue us for therapy," She responded curtly.

"And yet people think that I'm the pessimistic one in the relationship."

Thanking him for smoothing out her clothes, she gave him a wink, "I learnt from the best."

"I can't argue against that," Never taking his eyes off of her, he watched how quickly worry returned to her face, "We'll find him, Ten. I promise."

She plodded on the gravel pathway of the park trailing along an impressive canal, "I think that customer service is this way, maybe they can make an announcement for us about Naruto."

Still concerned for their friend, Neji listened to her ramble about the idiot's safety. He wished he could have her compassion for boisterous souls. It was no wonder she could be such good friends with Ino and Naruto after all.

They were now on the outskirts of the theme park, everything in Kuni was built long their famous bodies of water. Small lakes, and canals ran through the city, at night the paths were illuminated by traditional oil lit lamps. Light caught by the running water dispersed into glimmering waves. Walking slowly, Neji took the time to appreciate the scenery. Following the flow of the river, he allowed his eyes to rest until he came across an odd obstruction or glowing lights in his field of view.

Frowning he called for his girlfriend, "Ten, are those our names lit up on the river?"

"Neji, what are you talk-Oh my God." Peering over his shoulder, she looked onto the river in confusion, "Happy Anniversary to Neji and Tenten?"

Lit up on the waves of water through LED lights, were their names engraved into the night. Perched just slightly left to the words was a boathouse with the undeniable echoing sound of music.

* * *

"Do you think he planned all this?" Tipping herself at the edge of the railing, she leaned forward for a better look at the writing. It was elegant, evenly sprawled out, and it seemed like it took quite a bit of effort.

"Who else would do such a thing?"

As if on cue, Neji's phone went off ringing. Answering the call, an earth shattering larger than life voice boilsted from the speaker, "Neji!"

He winced, and pulled his phone away from his ear in protest of volume of the voice, "You and Tenten need to come out towards the banks right now! Just walk towards the edge of the park and you'll see!"

"We're already here, Naruto. And we can see our names lit up perfectly clear."

"Right!? I know! It's great. You're both overwhelmed, no need to thank me!"

"I wasn't going to, Naruto. We've been looking for you-"

"Wait! Neji, hold that thought! I need to go. Come to the boat house, I have one more surprise for the both of you!" Naruto quickly disconnected from the other end- background noises of him whispering "they loved it!" could be distinctly made out.

Turning to Tenten, He gave her a curious look, "Should we indulge him?"

Returning his look, she giggled, "It's best to not keep him waiting,"

She took a head start and ran halfway across the riverbank before swinging back to tell him, "I'll race you."

Groaning, but not resisting, he followed in suit, and shouted towards her moving figure, "I only tolerate this because of you."

Hearing him she felt a swell in her heart, and whispered a delicate, "I know" to herself and the night.

* * *

They entered the boathouse short out of breath from their racing. Sweating and huffing, they were far from the classic example of beauty and grace, but no one seemed to care nor notice. Loud roars and cheers were heard throughout the room. Bashfully, they tried to avoid the limelight, but without fail, friendly guests joyously guided the young couple towards the front of the stage.

There, Naruto eagerly descended the steps to greet them, "Welcome! What do you guys think?"

"What is all this?" Neji gestured to the crowd.

"This," Naruto gestured back, mimicking Neji's hand motions (very much like an annoying younger sibling would), "Is my gift to the two of you."

"But why?" Tenten asked in awe of the people, and the performers above her head.

"Soo...remember how a few months back, I accidentally punted Neji's backpack across the football field at practice?"

"Uh-huh."

"And how I ended up wrecking his laptop, phone, and camera which I didn't know were in said backpack?"

"Yep."

"I remember," Neji confirmed the memory.

"Well, since I wasn't able to pay back any of it at the time, this is my way of paying my dues."

Naruto closed his eyes grinning from ear to ear, "Common' don't hold back Neji," He held his arms out wide open for his "best friend" waiting for a much deserved hug.

Seconds passed.

Then a full minute had gone by.

Frowning Naruto let his arms down and blinked open his eyes to see an apathetic cross armed Neji.

"Even if you wanted to surprise us Naruto, it would have been nice to ask. Frankly, I would have liked the money instead. This is an over the top display that's both unprecedented and unnecessary. Seeing this, I can't begin to imagine the lengths you went through to make this work, so thank you."

"If you don't like it-Wait, Wah?" Naruto looked back at him in shock. No. It couldn't be, the infamous stone cold Hyuuga was smiling? At him? The hug was really just a fantasy spur of the moment idea (he had planned on forcing Neji into it from the start), but a smile?

"Naruto, thank you!" Tenten jumped with her open arms around him-snapping him out of his daze.

"I mean, you're welcome!"

As Neji left to fetch their party some drinks, Tenten quickly pulled Naruto to her ear level, "Do you really think he'll be cool now once he learns you're dating Hinata?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't he?"

"He is the ice king." Taking his hand, Tenten led him front and center to the dance floor. There the band began to play through their setlist.

"Not since he started dating you."

She lightly beat his arm, "Hush, don't give me all the credit."

"No, seriously, Tenten. You've been like magic on him. I've never seen someone be able to put up with him so well. It's like you were made for each other or something."

"You and Hinata were made for each other too."

"You think so?" His eyes lit up and gleamed hearing her comment.

"Mhm, I'll make sure he doesn't beat you into a pulp when he finds out."

"He won't do anything to me as long as you're around. Don't leave us anytime soon, okay?"

In perfect timing, Neji would make it back before Tenten could give Naruto a proper answer. Forcefully pulling the blonde away, Neji replaced himself as Tenten's dance partner. For future reference, his heroic actions would then spare her the pain of breaking one rather than two promises.

* * *

"Let me get this straight, your dumb plan was to tag along even if we said no?"

"I knew Ten would say yes." His car guest scratched his ear calmingly, "You're the asshole who'd say no."

Neji rolled his eyes at the answer, "Don't be so full of yourself all the time."

"Oh, you're one to talk." Naruto rode shotgun on their way back to Konoha. Since they were both respectful non-childish beings, the two friends made simple civil conversation. It quickly turned into a snark competition of insults and jabs.

A petite figure hugged a pillow tightly in the backseat, with her head lulled onto the side window sound asleep. She began fidgeting as the voices arguing grew louder and louder.

"See! This is what I mean when I say you're a total jackass!"

"And you're a total dumbass!"

 _"Smack!"_

Naruto and Neji flinched at the sudden strike at the back of their heads. Their female companion visibly annoyed (she was nothing short of fire exiting her eyes) spoke, "Both of you are being total immature asses! Now shut up and let me sleep!"

In a cold sweat, both males promptly ceased speaking and nodded in sync. They decided that it was better to have the sound of the album they bought from Kuni to beat itself to death, than to have Tenten physically beat the two of them to death.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I hope that the flashback made sense  & was clear. I didn't know how to write in a flashback tbh, and I hope I did a decent job. Hopefully, it bought some more insight into their relationship (as well as their relationship with Naruto)-namely, their problems and development.

Anyway, sorry for the super duper delayed update! I did managed to extend the chapter into being 6k words (haha, most i've ever written for a story). Things got caught up in my personal life, and I didn't have as much time to write as I thought. But please stick around! As I've said before, I plan on finishing this story for sure,and I have about 2 more chapters planned!  
Thank you for reading again, and reviews are always welcome : )


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